Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma, left, is greeted by Connecticut men's basketball player DeAndre Daniels, right, after Auriemma arrived on campus with his team for a rally celebrating its NCAA championship, Wednesday, April 9, 2014, in Storrs, Conn.

Fans line the fence as the Connecticut women's basketball team arrives at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Conn., Wednesday, April 9, 2014, the day after the Huskies defeated Notre Dame to clinch their ninth national championship. (AP Photo/Journal Inquirer, Jared Ramsdell) MANDATORY CREDIT

Photo: Jared Ramsdell, AP

Fans line the fence as the Connecticut women's basketball team...

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Connecticut's Breanna Stewart waves to fans as the team arrives at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Conn., Wednesday, April 9, 2014, the day after the Huskies defeated Notre Dame to clinch their ninth national championship. (AP Photo/Journal Inquirer, Jared Ramsdell) MANDATORY CREDIT

Photo: Jared Ramsdell, AP

Connecticut's Breanna Stewart waves to fans as the team arrives at...

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Connecticut's Stephanie Dolson holds the NCAA National Championship Trophy to fans as the team arrives at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Conn., Wednesday, April 9, 2014, the day after the Huskies defeated Notre Dame to clinch their ninth national championship. (AP Photo/Journal Inquirer, Jared Ramsdell) MANDATORY CREDIT

Connecticut's Stephanie Dolson waves to fans while carrying the NCAA National Championship Trophy at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Conn., Wednesday, April 9, 2014, the day after the Huskies defeated Notre Dame to clinch their ninth national championship. (AP Photo/Journal Inquirer, Jared Ramsdell) MANDATORY CREDIT

Connecticut's Moriah Jefferson, right, reaches over to comfort teammate Bria Hartley after Hartley became emotional during a speech to fans arriving at a rally on campus celebrating Connecticut's NCAA women's college basketball title, Wednesday, April 9, 2014, in Storrs, Conn.

Connecticut women's basketball players arrive on campus for a rally...

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Connecticut women's basketball player Bria Hartley holds the championship trophy as she arrives with the team on campus for a rally celebrating their NCAA title, Wednesday, April 9, 2014, in Storrs, Conn.

Photo: Jessica Hill, AP

Connecticut women's basketball player Bria Hartley holds the...

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A bus carrying the Connecticut women's basketball team arrives on campus for a rally celebrating their NCAA title on Wednesday, April 9, 2014, in Storrs, Conn.

Photo: Jessica Hill, AP

A bus carrying the Connecticut women's basketball team arrives on...

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Connecticut women's basketball players Tierney Lawlor, right, Bria Hartley (holding the championship trophy) and Stefanie Dolson, behind, walk with their coaches as they arrive with the team on campus for a rally celebrating their NCAA title on Wednesday, April 9, 2014, in Storrs, Conn.

Photo: Jessica Hill, AP

Connecticut women's basketball players Tierney Lawlor, right, Bria...

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Connecticut women's basketball player Bria Hartley holds the championship trophy as she arrives with the team on campus for a rally celebrating their NCAA title on Wednesday, April 9, 2014, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Photo: Jessica Hill, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Connecticut women's basketball player Bria Hartley holds the...

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Connecticut men's basketball player DeAndre Daniels, right, hugs Connecticut women's head coach Geno Auriemma after Auriemma arrived on campus with his team for a rally celebrating their NCAA title on Wednesday, April 9, 2014, in Storrs, Conn.

Photo: Jessica Hill, AP

Connecticut men's basketball player DeAndre Daniels, right, hugs...

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NASHVILLE, TN - APRIL 08: Stefanie Dolson #31 of the Connecticut Huskies celebrates with her teammate Bria Hartley #14 after defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 79 to 58 in the NCAA Women's Final Four Championship at Bridgestone Arena on April 8, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Photo: Andy Lyons, Getty Images

NASHVILLE, TN - APRIL 08: Stefanie Dolson #31 of the Connecticut...

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Connecticut guard Bria Hartley (14) prepares to hug head coach Geno Auriemma during the closing seconds of the championship game against Notre Dame in the Final Four of the NCAA women's college basketball tournament, Tuesday, April 8, 2014, in Nashville, Tenn. Connecticut won 79-58. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

THIS CORRECTS THE NAME OF THE PLAYER TO BRIA HARTLEY, AND NOT MORIAH JEFFERSON AS ORIGINALLY SENT - Connecticut's Bria Hartley embraces Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma during the second half of the championship game against Notre Dame in the Final Four of the NCAA women's college basketball tournament, Tuesday, April 8, 2014, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

STORRS -- It never gets old. No matter if you're a young coach -- with perfect hair -- winning a first-ever NCAA title almost 20 years ago, until now, when you've made just women's basketball history with national championship No. 9, Geno Auriemma can always pause and reflect on what continues to be a magic carpet ride.

"The more times you're able to do it, the more rewarding it is, the more you appreciate how hard it is to do it," Auriemma said on a chilly Wednesday afternoon after the UConn Huskies returned home to take a "Victory Lap" around campus and celebrate the program's ninth NCAA crown with an outdoor rally at the Fairfield Way circle between the Student Union and the School of Business.

"I remember my first one (1995) and the second one (2000), you show up and you're thinking, `This is a piece of cake. What's so hard about this?' And each year that you're back there, it's like, `Wow, this is really hard,' and so I really had a great time enjoying this one in a different way than all the other ones."

"I just want to say that four years ago when I came here, I wasn't sure ... Storrs, Connecticut, isn't the most exciting place," Dolson said, choking back tears. "But the feeling that I got when I first walked on this campus and to be able to play for all of you these last four years has been an honor. I couldn't have asked for anything more."

And while Dolson did her best to keep her emotions in check, Hartley simply let them go.

"Last night (Tuesday) was the most special moment of my life. To end my career like that was perfect," she said before breaking down completely and crying. "Coach, you mean so much to me helping me all these years. I wouldn't be the person I am today without you."

And maybe that was why Auriemma got surprisingly emotional after the game Monday night in his interview with ESPN, himself choking back tears when asked about achieving perfection with two special players like Dolson and Hartley.

"I don't know (what caused that), I really have no idea, other than I'm getting old and I don't get mad and crazy on the sidelines anymore," he said. "I think with this team ... I will say this, people will say, `What's the difference between an undefeated season and a perfect season?' In 1995, that was a perfect season ... 2002 was a perfect season and I think 2014 was a perfect season because 99.9 percent of the time, I went to work with these kids, it was perfect. Yeah, there's bumps in the road like any other time, but maybe that's what it was. It couldn't have been orchestrated any better than it was.

"It's like going back to (1995) and Pam Webber and Rebecca Lobo. You want to make a comparison? Pam and Rebecca, Stephanie and Bria. That, to me ... it was the same emotion I felt that night (in 1995) with those guys that you didn't see because TV wasn't that much of a factor back then, otherwise it might have been. I remember Rebecca breaking down on the podium and saying that she did exactly what she wanted to do with people she loved, and I think these two (Dolson and Hartley) are in the same category. ... I don't know where (my tears) came from. It certainly wasn't planned, believe me."

An estimated 1,000 people crowded into the circular walkway next to the Student Union for the ceremony, including the entire UConn football team and coaching staff, led by Bob Diaco and many members of the men's basketball team, including Shabazz Napier, Phillip Nolan, DeAndre Daniels, Niels Giffey and Tyler Olander. The men defeated Kentucky 60-54 on Monday night to win that program's fourth NCAA title, marking just the second time in history that the same school won both the men's and women's titles in the same season. The first? UConn in 2004.

And as TV crews and reporters crowded around Auriemma, the question about winning a 10th NCAA title -- and tying legendary UCLA coach John Wooden -- couldn't help but be asked.

"If I coached men's basketball and we had won nine national titles and if we won a 10th, I'd want to be mentioned in the same breath as John Wooden every day. But you know what? That's not the case," Aureimma said. "The reality is I coach a different sport than he did, in a different era than he did. And I just want to be compared to my peers that I coach against on a regular basis."